Seminole Awards People-mover Study

SANFORD — A Fort Lauderdale engineering firm has been awarded a $205,000 contract to study the practicality of a people-mover system in the booming area along Interstate 4 near Lake Mary.

The study will estimate the cost of building and running a transit system linking several large developments in the I-4-Lake Mary Boulevard area. It also will estimate potential ridership, consider possible routes and evaluate available technology.

Meanwhile, Seminole County officials have persuaded a transportation planning agency to seek federal funds for a feasibility study of a larger rail system between Lake Mary and Orlando.

The people-mover study will be paid for by the U.S. Urban Mass Transit Administration and a $35,000 grant from the Centerra Group, a coalition of Lake Mary-area developers and major employers.

Centerra is promoting a rail system that would tie together large residential and office projects near the I-4 interchange at Lake Mary Boulevard. Those projects include Heathrow, a residential and office development; Timacuan, a planned 1,100-home project; and Primera and Northpoint, both of which are being developed as office parks and shopping centers.

Seminole planning director Tony VanDerworp said a people-mover system could reduce traffic near the interchange. Large parking areas could enable commuters to leave cars at a station and take a shuttle to the projects along the route.

The transit agency and Centerra paid for a $31,000 preliminary study of the people mover, which was completed last year by an Orlando engineering firm. That firm recommended spending more federal money to study the people mover, VanDerworp said.

Kaiser Engineers Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, which has an office in Winter Park, was awarded the new study contract Tuesday by the Seminole County Commission. The job is expected to take 10 months.

Federal transportation officials have said they will pay for studies of mass transit systems if there is a strong chance for private funding of the system. County officials say there is strong business support for the people mover.

''The unique thing about the people-mover project is that we have pretty much a blank slate in terms of development in the area,'' VanDerworp said. In other places, local governments ''have had to go in and retrofit a system on top of existing development.''

VanDerworp said a Lake Mary-area people mover could stand by itself, although it would be preferable to connect it with a light rail system for commuters that could run along I-4 to Orlando.

Earlier transportation studies have concluded that without a north-south mass transit system in Seminole, a limit would have to be placed on development along I-4. Studies also have said it would be impractical to widen roads beyond eight lanes.

Plans for a $500 million-plus rail system linking downtown Orlando with Walt Disney World and Orlando International Airport were scrapped last year when the Orange County Commission refused to put up more public funds for the project.

If the transit agency approves a request for a $220,000 light-rail study, transportation planners could determine whether it is worthwhile to revive plans for a regional mass transit system.

The application for that grant is being made by the Metropolitan Planning Organization, a group of elected local officials that advises the Florida Department of Transportation.